Lane
Lane was a captain in the army of the Limper in the Lady's Empire. He reported directly to Zouad, a colonel who was the Limper's "political liaison" and favorite enforcer. ''The Black Company'' In the city of Opal, Lane conspired with Colonel Zouad and the Limper to attempt to murder a nobleman named Baronet Corvo and steal his rights and titles. They did this with the aid of Corvo's wife Morningstar and her lovers. However, the Baronet survived the murder attempt, and took on an essentially new identity as the wanderer Raven. Raven retaliated by murdering his wife and two of the conspirators in Opal, but Lane escaped Raven's wrath as he was serving in Forsberg province with the Limper at that time. In Forsberg, the Limper killed hundreds of Rebel fighters with battlefield sorcery at the head of his army, which included Lane, and sacked many villages, sparing no one. The Black Company, newly in service to the Empire, witnessed the carnage as they traveled northward. Lane remained behind in one of the burning villages with two dozen of his men, all drunk, when the Black Company caught up. Lane's men were torturing an elderly man, Flick, and assaulting his young granddaughter Darling, when they were spotted by the Company's three-man recon team of Doughbelly, Longhead, and Jolly. When those three were joined by Elmo, Croaker, and nine others including Raven, they confronted Lane's men. Raven slew two of them to rescue the civilians, and one of them fetched Lane from elsewhere in the village. When Lane arrived, he recognized Raven and attempted to flee. Before Raven could shoot him, Elmo cut the bowstring. Instead of being grateful, Lane drunkenly cursed and threatened them. The Company men were then joined by their main force, with the Captain in the lead. When Lane demanded that the Captain arrest Raven for murdering two of his men, Elmo and Croaker explained the crimes they had been committing. Lane did not deny the crimes. The Captain de-escalated the confrontation, and demanded that Lane and his men leave. Later, the Black Company recaptured the fortress at Deal which had been taken from the Limper by the Rebel general Raker. This was yet another humiliation for the Limper and his people inflicted by the Company. The Limper and his subordinates planned to retaliate. While the main force of the Company occupied the fortress at Deal, Raven accompanied Candy, Doughbelly, Jolly, and some others on "turnip patrol" to buy supplies in Oar. There, Lane and Colonal Zouad personally hired about a dozen local thugs to kill Raven. With Lane and Zouad present nearby, the thugs fired the stable where the patrol was lodging, and confronted the Company brothers as they fled the flames. They demanded that Raven surrender, but he refused. When Flick stood in harm's way to defend Raven, Lane's thugs killed him and a skirmish ensued. While Raven was slashed several times and the Company mercenaries received some wounds, they killed the entire group of thugs. As the fight turned, Zouad and Lane escaped. Cornie, the owner of the stable where the fight took place, revealed to Elmo and One-Eye that Zouad and Lane were lodging at a place on Bleek Street. The Company men forced Cornie, a Rebel, to leak their location to his compatriots. Zouad was captured by the Rebels of Oar, and Lane was not heard from again. If he was not killed in that confrontation, he might have been eliminated by Raven later, who revealed to the Captain that "all his debts were paid" when he rejoined the Company in Elm. Category:Characters Category:Imperials Category:Enemies of the Black Company